Cycling: The 38-year-old Katusha rider won the classic after a brave late break as a soloist ahead of Niki Terpstra (Etixx Quick-Step) and Geraint Thomas (Sky). The race took place under extremely difficult conditions: hurricane gusts, intermittent heavy rain and freezing cold made the 240km from Deinze to Wevelgem an ordeal for many drivers.
You could tell right from the start that each individual driver first had to get used to the weather conditions. Also because of the extremely strong headwind in the meantime, it took quite a while before the first drivers wanted to and were able to break away from the field. Eventually it was a seven man group featuring Tim Kerkhof (Roompoot Oranje), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R), Albert Timmer (Giant-Alpecin), Alex Dowsett (Movistar), Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff-Saxo), Jesse Sergent (Trek Factory Racing) and Mirko Tedeschi (Southeast), who took the lead.
Things got chaotic after that – the wind blew some riders off their bikes or into the ditch, and the slippery roads also took their toll. After less than two hours, the field was completely torn up and it was completely impossible to predict the outcome. Among the victims of the weather was Mark Cavendish, who lost touch with the field after a fall. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) also had to give up.
On the way to the Catsberg, the third climb of the day, the field slowly settled down. A group of around 25 riders rode at the front, including favorites like Alexander Kristoff and Peter Sagan. But this status quo only lasted until the final climb of the day: the Kemmelberg. Shortly before that, Nikki Terpstra picked up the pace and pulled away from the leading group – a chasing group immediately grabbed his rear wheel, with Sijn Vandenbergh in particular setting the pace. With 20km to go, a group of six had finally formed at the front: Geraint Thomas, Luca Paolini, Nikki Terpstra, Sep Vanmarcke and Jens Debusschere. Everything seemed to come down to a sprint decision, but Luca Paolini had other plans: six kilometers from the finish, he took advantage of a brief disagreement in the group, pulled away and finally took the win by an impressive 11 seconds over Nikki Terpstra.
Final result Gent – Wevelgem 2015:
[easy table th=“0″]1., Luca Paolini, ITA, Katusha, 6:20:55
2.,Niki Terpstra ,NED,Etixx – Quick Step,0:00:11
3. Geraint Thomas GBr Sky
4th, Stijn Vandenbergh, BEL, Etixx – Quick Step, 0:00:18
5th, Jens Debusschere, BEL, Lotto Soudal, 0:00:26
6th,Sep Vanmarcke,BEL,Team LottoNL-Jumbo,0:00:40
7th,Jurgen Roelandts,BEL,Lotto Soudal,0:01:52
8.,Daniel Oss,ITA,BMC,0:04:15
9th,Alexander Kristoff,NOR,Katusha,0:05:12
10.,Peter Sagan,SVK,Tinkoff Saxo,
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